Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has raised the alarm over reports that some young Nigerians are resorting to selling their kidneys for as little as ₦1.7 million to cope with the country’s worsening cost-of-living crisis.

Atiku made the remarks in a statement on Friday, expressing concern that economic hardship was pushing young Nigerians towards increasingly desperate measures simply to survive.

SEE MORE: 2027: ‘Do I Look 80’ — Atiku Fires Back at Critics Over His Age

He described the reported development as “frightening,” stressing that young Nigerians should be using their talents, ideas and creativity to build better lives rather than being forced to consider selling their body organs.

“Young people should be selling dreams, ideas and innovation, not their body organs,” Atiku said.

According to him, the rising cost of essential goods and services, including food, transportation, rent, school fees, medicine and electricity, has placed enormous pressure on Nigerians.

He blamed the economic direction of the administration of President Bola Tinubu for what he described as the worsening hardship confronting citizens.

“In Tinubu’s Nigeria, almost everything required to live with dignity is becoming more expensive by the day: food, transport, rent, school fees, medicine and electricity,” he said.

Atiku said the reported sale of kidneys for as little as ₦1.7 million was evidence that the crisis had moved beyond ordinary economic hardship.

“When young Nigerians begin to see their kidneys as emergency savings, we are no longer talking about ordinary economic hardship. We are talking about desperation at its most frightening,” he added.

The former vice president noted that Nigeria already has laws prohibiting commercial organ sales and organ trafficking.

However, he argued that enforcement alone would not solve the underlying poverty and desperation exposing vulnerable Nigerians to exploitation.

“Laws alone cannot cure the poverty and desperation that make vulnerable young people easy prey for criminal networks,” Atiku said.

He called for economic reforms that would have a direct impact on the living conditions of ordinary Nigerians, including measures to make food and transportation more affordable, improve access to healthcare and create decent employment opportunities.

Atiku further urged the government to pursue policies capable of restoring hope among young Nigerians.

“Our young people should be selling their ideas, talents and innovation to the world and not their kidneys for ₦1.7 million just to survive at home,” he said.

His comments come amid reports of alleged organ sales and a police investigation into an alleged organ-harvesting and human-trafficking operation involving four suspects, including two nephrologists.

Atiku described the situation as a disturbing reflection of what he called the “human cost” of Nigeria’s cost-of-living crisis.

The Presidency has clarified that President Bola Tinubu is not on trial in the United States, describing the ongoing legal proceedings involving records linked to him as a civil dispute over access to government documents.

The clarification was made by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, amid renewed attention to the case before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

According to the Presidency, the matter arose from requests submitted under the US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for records relating to Tinubu.

SEE MORE: No Gov’t Reprisal for Criticism — Tinubu Assures Journalists

“For clarity, the matter is a civil records-disclosure dispute under the United States Freedom of Information Act. It is not a criminal case against President Tinubu, nor has the court found him guilty of any criminal wrongdoing,” the Presidency stated.

The government explained that Aaron Greenspan submitted FOIA requests to several US government agencies in 2022, seeking records relating to the President.

After some agencies withheld certain records or declined to confirm or deny their existence, Greenspan commenced Civil Action No. 23-1816 before the US District Court for the District of Columbia in 2023.

The court subsequently permitted President Tinubu to participate in the proceedings as an intervenor.

The Presidency said some of the agencies invoked the “Glomar defence”, a legal position that allows US government agencies, under certain circumstances, to neither confirm nor deny the existence of particular investigative records.

It added that the court subsequently granted summary judgment in favour of the CIA, Executive Office for United States Attorneys, Department of State, Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service, effectively removing them from the proceedings.

However, aspects of the case involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration remained subject to further consideration.

The Presidency further disclosed that the FBI and DEA had produced 399 pages of records in compliance with court orders, although portions of the documents were redacted under exemptions provided by US law.

According to the government, the plaintiff challenged the agencies’ decision to redact parts of the documents and sought their release without the redactions.

The FBI and DEA, through the US Department of Justice, opposed the request, citing legal protections covering certain categories of information.

The Presidency said some of the records relate to grand jury proceedings, which are protected from public disclosure under US law.

It also cited protections covering information connected to certain court orders authorising pen registers or trap-and-trace devices, as well as documents protected by attorney-client and attorney-work-product privileges.

The Presidency’s clarification comes amid heightened political debate ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 general elections, with opposition figures continuing to scrutinise the President’s past and administration.

The government, however, maintained that the US proceedings should not be misrepresented as a criminal trial against Tinubu, stressing that the case concerns the disclosure and withholding of government records.

Renewed tensions in the Middle East have seen crude prices push towards $100 per barrel riding on the back of US sanctions and a blockade of Iranian oil exports, which have escalated the Asian country’s economic woes.

Consequently, the Brent crude, the international benchmark, climbed to $97 per barrel on Thursday before declining to $95.50, as reported at Oilprice.com.

On its part, Reuters reported that the surge in oil prices came as Washington intensified its campaign to cut off Iran’s access to international financing and prevent the country from circumventing sanctions.

Three senior Iranian sources reportedly told Reuters that the latest measures were proving increasingly difficult for Tehran to withstand, with the country facing dwindling channels for securing foreign currency and importing essential goods.

READ ALSO: Dangote Investments are Catalysts for Africa’s Economic Growth – AFC

The pressure has also severely affected Iran’s oil exports.

Iranian crude loadings have fallen to about 260,000 barrels per day this month, from around 1.7 million bpd a year earlier, according to commodity analytics firm Kpler.

The development has raised fresh concerns over the impact of the sanctions on global oil markets, particularly as the conflict has disrupted energy supplies and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

While some energy continues to flow through the strategic waterway, the US blockade of Iranian oil exports has effectively cut off Tehran’s main source of revenue, Reuters reported.

Iran’s economic problems have been compounded by a sharp collapse in its currency and accelerating inflation. The rial has fallen from about one million rials to the dollar a year ago to more than 2.2 million rials currently.

Official figures put Iran’s 12-month average inflation at 69.9 percent, while prices of food, beverages and tobacco have risen at nearly twice that rate.

The squeeze has also affected Iran’s ability to maintain its sanctions-evasion networks, with front companies, unregistered tankers and smuggling operations becoming increasingly expensive.

The country’s trade has fallen by between 25 and 35 percent, with imports hit harder than exports, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has also disrupted a major channel for Iranian commerce, announcing on 19 August that all commercial exchange and financial dealings with Tehran had been halted until further notice.

These have plunged Iran’s domestic fuel situation into some sort of turbulence.

One senior Iranian source told Reuters that the country has only about two months’ supply of petrol, which it needs to import despite its domestic oil production because of limited refining capacity.

The deteriorating economic conditions are also placing severe pressure on Iranian households. Average monthly salaries are estimated at about $125, compared with basic household spending requirements of roughly $450, according to official data.

The economic squeeze comes as fighting between Iran and the United States has intensified, with attacks and retaliatory strikes raising fears of further disruption to oil supplies and shipping.